The other day I was outside with a client and her dog, teaching different behaviors on their driveway. She had gone to the effort of buying, cooking and cutting up little pieces of chicken just for training. It was a lot of extra work and expense on her part but I taught her the importance of using high value reinforcers in teaching and strengthening behaviors.
The problem was that what I had in my pocket – pieces of meat and dog food – was of higher value to her dog. Asking her dog to make a conscious decision to turn away from what I had to go to her for what she had was not exactly helping any of us to succeed.
It got me thinking about the importance of knowing your dog’s Awesome List
Remember, only the learner get to choose what is or is not of value. And only what is of value to your learner will be an effective reinforcer for learning and strengthening behavior.
When it comes to training, success begins with knowing what your dog values and wants. When you make assumptions on that, you may very well be wrong. Ask your dog by offering different choices – in food, toys, activities, human interaction – and seeing which your dog goes to first, second and third. You may very well be surprised by what you learn! Remember that what is of high value in one moment will change. A tired dog probably will not value an active game. A dog outside may value head rubs less.
Once you know what your dog thinks is awesome, alter your thinking from controlling your dog to controlling access to those high value reinforcers. Access is contingent on your dog doing wanted behaviors.
Remember, what occurs after something affects how one feels about what occurs before it.
Woaza, what a way to build fun into your lesson! You will not only make those wanted behaviors more valuable, you will also make attention and listening to you more valuable because you hold the keys to awesomeness in your pet’s life.
